The Many Lives of Captain James Hook - Ella
by Aiyoku Saotome
Summary: Peter and Ella lose their mother young, and their father passes away soon after remarrying. Peter can't take Lady Tremaine's abusive rule, but he won't leave Ella, who wants to stay to keep their parents' spirits alive. One day, he mysteriously disappears, leaving her to grow up on her own. Until she finally makes the wish to leave. "Where there is goodness, there is magic."


**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, Peter Pan, or Cinderella. I just own this particular story idea. **

**Series Synopsis: A series of fics each revolving around a different Disney story starring Hook. They will show different sides of him and how he deals with different situations, different women, and different sides of Peter.**

 **Note: The version of Hook I use is the one from the 2003 live action Peter Pan movie, with Jason Isaacs as the actor. The version of Cinderella I am using is the 2015 live action movie. If you like this idea, please keep an eye out for my other Hook/Princess stories! They're all filled to the brim with adventure, love, and a little bit of angst thrown in there. :D  
**

 **Since the name is spelled two different ways in different versions of Cinderella, I chose to spell Drisella with an s instead of a z because that is how the 2015 version spells it.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

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 _Two blonde children ran around outside, playing tag while their mother smiled through the window. "Twins were so hard, Tristan. But they couldn't be more worth it."_

 _Her husband hugged her from behind. "And I couldn't agree with you more. Shall we call them?"_

 _She reached across the counter and opened the window. "Peter! Ella! Time to go!"_

 _The five-year-olds squealed and rushed inside; family picnics were among their favorite things to do._

 _"Lavender's blue, dilly dilly, lavender's green. When I am king, dilly dilly, you shall be queen..." Ella and her mother sang twenty minutes later, on the hill overlooking the kingdom._

 _-0-0-0-_

 _"What's the doctor doing here, Father?" asked ten-year-old Ella._

 _"He is just checking out your mother, that is all. She has not been feeling well."_

 _"Will she be okay?" Peter asked._

 _"I believe so. Don't fret, my loves. Go play."_

 _-0-0-0_

 _"You said she'd be okay!"_

 _"I said I believed so, Peter. I'm sorry."_

 _The eleven-year-old shouted in frustration and pain, and fled from the room. Tristan sighed and looked at Ella. "El, please convince him to go in and see your mother. He will regret it for the rest of his life if he doesn't. For some reason, he listens to you..."_

 _"She's really dying?"_

 _"I... I am afraid so."_

 _Ella cried as her father wrapped his arms around her. "I will, Father. I promise."_

 _-0-0-0-_

 _"Ella, Peter," their mother breathed happily when they entered their parents' room. Ella rushed to her mother while Peter lagged behind. "My beautiful Ella, I am not long for this world. I am truly sorry. I tried to get better, for you and Peter, but that is not what I am meant for in this life, I suppose. Before I go, I have to tell you a secret that will see you through all of the trials that life can offer. Have courage, and be kind. When there is kindness, there is goodness, and when there is goodness, there is magic."_

 _"I will, Mother. Always."_

 _"Good girl. I love you so much."_

 _"I love you too."_

 _Their mother gestured for her son. Peter grudgingly stepped forward and took her hand. "Peter, I know this is hard for you. It is hard for you all, and for me. That is why I appreciate so much that you pushed through your anger and fear to see me. That is very brave of you. I wish you didn't have to grow up... promise me that when you do, you will never lose your youth. Always be a boy and have fun. Remember, being a grown-up doesn't mean you can't have fun."_

 _"I never want to grow up."_

 _"I know. But you have to, and when you do, you will realize that it's not so scary. I love you, my son."_

 _"I... I love you too..."_

 _-0-0-0-_

 _"You're getting married?!"_

 _"Yes, Peter, but as I said, it is only to help out their family and to provide someone to watch you and El while I am away. Lady Tremaine just lost her husband, and those girls their father. It is impossible for a woman to raise children alone, unfortunately. No one would hire her. And, I'm sure you remember what it was like to lose your mother three years ago," Tristan said pointedly._

 _"YES, but how could you do this to us? To Mother?! Let someone else marry that woman!"_

 _"Her father and husband helped me greatly with my business. They did me favors I cannot hope to repay. This is my way of thanking them."_

 _"But you have us! It's not just you you have to think about! We're here, too!"_

 _"ENOUGH, Peter! I_ am _thinking of you! That is why I am re-marrying! You are out of line, boy. I am sorry you feel this way, but I am the man of this house, not you. I am the grown-up, not you. This is my decision and it is final." Peter stormed off to practice sword-fighting, a hobby he picked up just before their mother died. Tristan turned to his daughter. "How do you feel about this?"_

 _Ella looked down at the floor, then back up at her father. 'Have courage and be kind,' she heard in her mother's voice. That was her mantra. "I will never call her Mother or the girls Sister, but I understand that you cannot work to your fullest without someone to watch us at the house. I don't like it, but I understand that this must be done. I will be nice to them, Father. And who knows, maybe we can have a good relationship."_

 _He smiled. She loved making him smile. "Thank you, El."_

 _"Thank you for asking me how I feel."_

 _"I will always take your feelings into account. Though I don't think Peter will ever understand that."_

 _"He is headstrong, but he'll come around."_

 _"I don't know why he only listens to you."_

 _Ella let out a very un-ladylike snort, making her father laugh. "Not always."_

 _-0-0-0-_

 _"Just because my father is gone doesn't make you the boss of me!"_

 _"As a matter of fact, it does."_

 _Lady Tremaine and her daughters had been living at the house for five months now, and Peter absolutely hated them. Ever since their father went away on a business trip three weeks ago, Peter and Ella started seeing the true personalities of the Tremaine family. And Peter began acting out._

 _"No it doesn't! You have no right to tell me I can't practice with my sword! You have no right to tell Ella it's un-ladylike for her to practice with me! You can't tell us to do chores while you and your lazy daughters sit around doing nothing! YOU ARE NOT OUR MOTHER!"_

 _The woman smacked him clean across his face. Ella gasped and brought her hands to her mouth. She felt raw fury bubbling up within her, but she squashed it. She watched Peter intently. He was just standing there with his face turned to the side, his cheek reddening. As he slowly stood back upright, fear struck Ella's heart. His eyes could have been made out of fire. "Peter," she warned, "always have courage and be kind, remember."_

 _He directed his fiery gaze at her. "How can you be kind to these people?" he growled. He looked up at the ceiling and spread his arms out wide. "HUH, MOTHER?! HOW CAN YOU BE KIND TO THESE PEOPLE?!" Lady Tremaine, unnerved, went to grab him but he grabbed her arms. "When my father gets back and learns everything you've done, he will kick you out and you'll be on the street with nowhere to go. You'll have to sell all of your expensive clothes that you bought with his money and you'll know what it's like to be poor, your worst fear. You will never speak to us like that again. You will never lay a hand on me or El. Stay away from us because, mark my words, you will regret it of you do otherwise."_

 _She leaned forward and stared him right in the eye. "Boy, it's time for you to grow up."_

 _"Never," he hissed venomously. He violently threw her arms away from him and left. Ella was shaken, but she ran after him with a quick apology to her stepmother._

 _"Peter, what was that all about? Why were you like that to her?"_

 _He whirled around and faced her. "Are you serious, El? Are you actually blind AND deaf? Don't you see what they've been doing and saying?"_

 _"Of course I have, but I follow Mother's words. She told me it would see me through, and it has."_

 _"So far. Who knows how long Father will be gone? Who knows what that, that_ witch _could do to us?"_

 _"You know she won't hurt us while Father is still alive."_

 _"She just hit me! Stop taking Mother's words SO seriously! She didn't mean them that way! Yes, be kind, sure, but not to the point of being religious about it! That woman is evil, El!"_

 _"All the more reason to be nice to her!" Ella shouted back. "Why do you think she goes after you more than me? Because you fight back! I just do what she says so she doesn't bother me! That's what mother meant, Peter. That's why I am getting through this and you aren't. What is with you, anyway? Ever since Mother died, you've been so angry all the time. Even I have trouble pushing through your temper."_

 _"Because I'm growing up."_

 _Ella blinked. "What? Seriously? That's why these past three years have been so hard living with you, tiptoeing around you? Because you're growing up?!"_

 _"Yes, El, okay?! You asked! That's my answer."_

 _"Why are you still going on about not growing up? Peter, we're thirteen! We're going to be fourteen in a few months! People grow up. That's life! That's part of being alive."_

 _"Well I want none of it, especially if it has to be with that woman and her awful daughters. Besides, if you can take Mother's words seriously, so can I!"_

 _"She told you to never lose your youth and that she wished you didn't have to grow up! She never told you to NOT grow up!"_

 _"Whatever, El. I'll figure something out, you'll see. Mother always believed in magic, and you do, still. If there's something to that, then I'll find it. If not, then I'll grow up, but as Mother told me, I will never ever stop having fun. I would rather die."_

 _Lady Tremaine was careful to not make a sound when she left Peter's closed bedroom door. She smiled wickedly and knew what she had to do. Her cash cow's sweet, innocent daughter just gave her the answer._

 _-0-0-0-_

 _"Stepmother?" Ella said carefully while stepping into the living room with her brother four weeks later. "You called us?"_

 _There was a strange man standing in the middle of the room. Drisella and Anastasia were sitting on the sofa, and Lady Tremaine was pacing back and forth with tears flowing down her cheeks. As soon as she saw Ella, she scooped her up in a big hug. "Ella, sweet little Ella, I am so, so sorry."_

 _"Cut the nonsense, what happened?" Peter asked sharply._

 _The woman looked up at him, forcing more tears out. "Peter, I am so sorry... your father has... he was on his way home, and... he was killed."_

 _Peter and Ella froze. Neither knew what to say, neither knew what to do - they just stood there, pain stricken across their faces._

 _"How?" was all Ella could manage._

 _"There was a raid on his carriage. He was shot."_

 _Ella became more withdrawn after that. She did everything her stepmother said, as before, but without a smile. Without a single thought. She cried alone in her room for weeks, which turned into months, until finally, Peter approached her in her room one night._

 _"I'm leaving."_

 _This news was enough to bring her upright. She looked so hurt that it made him feel terrible. "Why? Why would you leave me here?"_

 _"I'm not. You're coming with me."_

 _"I... I can't, Peter. This home is all I know, and I refuse to leave everything Mother and Father built together to that rotten woman."_

 _"Oh-ho? Rotten? So you've finally seen her true colors?"_

 _"I've known all along, Peter. But I am staying here to keep our parents' spirits alive. I won't just give up on them like that."_

 _"I don't think they would want us to stay in this situation, El. Come on, think about it! Why would they ever want us to be treated as slaves? That woman has become so much worse since Father died. She'll only get more so. She treats us like dirt, and she treats you worse than me because you stick around. You don't run off before she wakes up. You do all of the housework. You cook. You mend their clothes. You do every god awful thing she says! You're a slave, Ella! Please leave with me. We'll find somewhere to live, I promise."_

 _"Will you go if I say no? Will you leave me just like Mother and Father, me, your twin?"_

 _"... You know I wouldn't. But would you force me to stay just so you can delude yourself in keeping Mother and Father's spirits alive while being abused and neglected?"_

 _"I won't force you to stay. Just as you can't force me to go. We have choices, Peter. It's up to you, just as staying is up to me. Once we grow up, we can figure out a way to get that family out of our house. Until then, I will be good and complacent."_

 _-0-0-0-_

 _One week later, Peter was gone. No note, no warning - gone. Ella cried herself to sleep every night for five months. Then, she let him go._

The moment of silence was broken by the sound of a crashing window. Ella jumped, blinked, and looked around; she had been day-dreaming. Drisella was standing by the window, having obviously thrown something through it.

"Clean that up, wench!"

Ella sighed softly. "Of course."

"I'm sorry, of course... what?"

Ella looked her straight in the eyes. "You can do all you want to me, but I will never call you Mistress, Sister, Lord, or any of the other ridiculous things you've told me to call you."

Drisella took a vase filled with water and flowers and threw it at another window. Then she left. Ella started crying as she got a broom and started cleaning up the mess. It was a rare moment of emotion that she usually kept locked up behind a tightly closed door. She heard footsteps and quickly wiped her eyes. The footsteps walked into the dining room and she looked up - it was Anastasia. "What happened?" the redhead whispered. Ella looked wildly around her, then back at Anastasia. "Mother is in town and Drisella just went outside. What happened?"

Ella's shoulders slumped. "Drisella thought it would be fun to break the windows because I was day-dreaming."

"I'll be right back." Anastasia rushed out of the room and came back ten minutes later. "I got rid of her." She took another broom and started helping Ella.

"How?" the blonde asked, shocked.

"I said we're out of wine. You know how Mother gets if she doesn't have wine at the ready. She ran to town to get some."

"But, we're not out of wine."

"Oh yes we are. I just dumped it all in the creek and buried the bottles."

Ella chuckled. "That's brilliant. But you don't have to help me."

"Oh stop it. I've done so since they started treating you badly. Since your brother abandoned you."

"Ana... if not for you, I'm not sure I could have made it all these years."

The redhead smiled. "The same sentiment holds for me to you. So... you're turning twenty-three next week!"

"Oh Ana, you know birthdays haven't meant much to me since Father died. You're the only thing that makes them momentous at all."

"Then I shall keep doing so!"

Ella smiled at her friend. "Thank you."

"Of course. So... what were you day-dreaming about?"

Ella frowned. "Just... memories."

Anastasia's smile fell. "I'm sorry. I know how much you miss them. My father was the only thing about this family that I loved. When he died... I almost ran away. But you know that whole story. Then I met you." Ella started crying again, so Ana stopped sweeping and took her stepsister's hand. "I promise it'll be okay. Someday, you will get rewarded for always having courage and being kind. You'll see."

"I hope so... I want to run away. I now see why Peter wanted to so badly back then, and why he finally did. But... I just can't shake the feeling that he didn't plan to after he told me he wouldn't leave me."

"You still think he was taken? Really?"

"I felt so betrayed for so long, but after I thought about it, I know he'd never just leave me like that. We were inseparable, Ana. Like you and I are. I truly believe he wouldn't leave without telling me."

"Well, I have to believe you, then, because you know him better than I."

The front door closed and Ana jumped. Ella motioned for her to get out of there, so she did, but when she reached the doorway, her mother appeared in front of her. "What on earth is going on in here?"

"Cinderella is just cleaning up a mess," Ana said snootily. She turned to look at Ella, who had been watching them. "Why are you looking at us? Get back to work!" she snapped. Ella squeaked out a 'sorry' and continued cleaning up all of the glass.

"Why are the windows broken?! You stupid girl! We don't have the money to fix that!" Lady Tremaine shouted.

"I'm sorry," was all Ella could manage to say. Inside, she was seething. ' _Have courage and be kind.'_

"You will do double chores for this, young lady."

Before she could stop it, she said, "How can I do double chores if I already do everything for you?"

Lady Tremaine stood up straight and, with her nose in the air, said, "No dinner tonight and no food at all for the next two days." She swiftly left the room.

As she left the room, Ana gave her a look that she knew meant, ' _I'll bring you some_ ,' because Ana always did whenever her mother took food away from Ella.

 _'I wish...'_

"I wish I could leave this place."

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 **Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know not much has happened, but I needed to set the stage. Please let me know what you think :)**


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